This song is for my old mate Gavin Martin who died yesterday. My not-so-old mate. He was 60. (more…)

Dutch singer Bonnie St. Claire represented the European wing of 1970s Glam but failed even to cross over the Channel – because she sounded like a shit Suzi Quatro.

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Everybody knows the Jackson brothers but not so many know their near-namesakes, the Brothers Johnson. (more…)

Geordie soul boy Eric Burdon teamed up with California funksters War to make this idiosyncratic cover of a Rolling Stones song. (more…)

Liverpool band The Yachts became the UK’s prototype for Power Pop as punk evolved into the New Wave. (more…)

Marianne Faithfull made a comeback, a generation after she came to fame in the Sixties, with the powerful Broken English. (more…)

Siouxsie & The Banshees brought punk fire and fury to their cover of Helter Skelter, written by John Lennon for The Beatles. (more…)

Another of the early single releases on Stiff Records came with this “double B-side” from pub rock veteran Sean Tyler and The Tyla Gang. (more…)

Ever since it came out in May 1977 this has been my favourite single. (more…)